


A Certain Romance

by Heckyheck_Icravedeath



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Billy Hargrove Being an Asshole, Bisexual Peter Parker, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Brotherly Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Cute Steve Harrington, Each Chapter is Different, Fluff, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Good Friend Robin Buckley, I am so proud of this, I have a new obsession with peter x steve, I promise, LMAO, M/M, Oop, Precious Peter Parker, Steve has a little crush, The Author Regrets Nothing, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Totally, a ha ah ah, i also really love dustin and steve, i made them a ship name, im a fucking genius, it's parkington, itll mostly be fluff though, m a y be some angst, p a r k i n g t o n, so get ready for ma ny fics, so there will be a lot of them as cute lil brothers, well it's not really little
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2020-09-29 17:01:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20439428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heckyheck_Icravedeath/pseuds/Heckyheck_Icravedeath
Summary: Just a bunch of Peter Parker x Steve Harrington one shots:)





	1. Apple Pie and Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve meets the new kid and finds that he smells rather nice.

Steve Harrington wasn't the type of guy that would go and help the new kid. Sure he was nice and would help if he was asked directly, but he wouldn't ever go out of his way to help. 

Unless the new kid was cute of course. 

If that was the case then Steve would go to Nancy to find out information about the kid — Nancy was always the first to welcome the new kid and make them feel comfortable, not caring what they look like — then he'd go up to the kid and put on the Steve Harrington Charm that absolutely always worked thank you very much. 

The only problem was they rarely got new kids — Thanks to living out in basically the middle of nowhere. Welcome to Hawkins — and if they did, the kids were almost always assholes and not cute. Take Billy for example. Billy was the biggest asshole ever. And he definitely wasn't _cute_. 

Steve used to ask Nancy everyday if there was a new kid. She'd always laugh at him and say, “You're pretty desperate there, Harrington.” He knew it was true, but he didn't like admitting it, so he never did. And he stopped asking all the time. He was disappointed 99 percent of the time anyway. 

Then one day a miracle happened. 

Nancy came up to Steve during a study hall they shared with a grin on her face. “Guess what!” 

“What?” He was a little curious as to why she was _so_ excited. She was never all excited like this. 

“Guess.” 

“Just _tell_ me. I need to study and you're distracting me.” He genuinely needed to study, but he also didn't want to play the guessing game. Especially with Nancy. She made it a horrible experience. 

“What’s something you haven't asked me in a long time?” She asked with a grin still plastered on her face. He sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

“I have no idea.” 

“Yes you do. _Think_.” He did and then it clicked. 

“Holy _shit_. We have a new kid, don't we?” She grinned wider and nodded enthusiastically. 

“Yes! And he's cute. And he's not an asshole. At least he doesn't seem like one. He was super sweet when we talked.” A smile started to form on Steve's lips. Maybe things were finally going to work in his favor. 

“What's his name?” 

“Peter Parker. He's from New York City.” 

“Oooh, a city kid. This should be fun.” Nancy snorted. 

“Just be normal please. We can’t have you scaring the new kid.” 

“I’m normal!” 

“You say as your only friends are nerd children.” So maybe she had a point, but Steve was going to choose to ignore that point. 

“I’m not _friends_ with them. I’m more so their _babysitter_.” 

“You and Dustin have a secret handshake, Steve.” 

“_Whatever_.” He huffed, and she let out a laugh. 

“Don’t pout you big baby.” 

“I’m not a baby.” He glared at her, which earned him another laugh. 

“Uh huh.” He opened his mouth to object again, but she spoke before he could get anything out. “He sits near the door during lunch, by the way. I’ll be with him, but I’ll scatter when you decide to come over.” Any annoyance he felt towards her for making fun of him was gone. It was replaced with a feeling of being blessed. She truly was a great wingman. 

“Thanks, Nancy.” 

“No problem.” She saluted him before heading back to her seat near the front of the class. 

Steve tried to get back to studying once she left, but he couldn't focus. All he could think about was that name. Peter Parker. It was a cute name. It made him wish lunch would come faster. He really wanted to see Peter’s face and see if Nancy was right about him being cute. She probably was. Nancy wasn’t one to ever be wrong about looks. 

The rest of his study hall was spent trying to picture what Peter looked like. It made time go by quicker. Before he knew it the bell was ringing. A smile danced across his lips as he made his way to the lunch room. Excitement along with some nerves were stirring around in his stomach. He knew it would be fine, but he also knew something stupid would come out of his mouth at some point. He hoped Peter liked him and his stupid comments. 

He arrived at the lunch room and immediately spotted Nancy sitting at the lunch table closest to the door. Next to her was a boy who he assumed was Peter. When his eyes landed on Peter’s face, all he could do was stare. Cute was definitely an understatement. That kid was absolutely _breathtaking_. Everything about him was damn near perfect. Though Steve’s favorite part was the hair. It was a mess, but in a good way. The best way to explain it was it looked like a _fluffy_ mess. It was the most adorable thing ever. 

The second most adorable thing was the way he smiled. It was so bright and God he had nice lips. And nice eyes. They were a soft brown that went perfectly with the rest of him. 

His phone buzzed, pulling him from his little _admiring session_. 

_Fancy Nancy: Are you going to keep staring or are you actually going to come over here and talk to him? _

__

_The Damn Good Babysitter: Oh shut up, I’m coming over now_

__

_Henderson: Excuse me, what?_

Just Steve’s luck; Nancy accidentally texted the group chat. 

_The Damn Good Babysitter: I hate you _

__

_Fancy Nancy: Whoops_

__

_The Damn Good Babysitter: “Whoops” she says_

__

_Henderson: W ha t ?_

__

_Fancy Nancy: Steve has a crush on the new kid, Peter, and he’s supposed to come over to the table and talk to Peter, but he’s just staring and it was getting creepy, so I texted him and apparently not privately_

__

_Mike-and-Ike: Steve has a crush???_

__

_Mad Max: Holy shit-_

__

_Mad Max’s Property: I don’t even know what to say_

__

_The Damn Good Babysitter: Screw all of you_

__

_Henderson: If I get replaced by the new kid, I will riot_

__

_The Damn Good Babysitter: You aren’t getting replaced, calm down_

__

_Fancy Nancy: You’re totally getting replaced. Steve has it bad. He just stared at the kid for like ten minutes straight and drooled a little_

__

_The Damn Good Babysitter: I did n o t_

__

_Mad Max: I feel like you did. Seems like a Steve move_

__

_Mike-and-Ike: I agree with that statement_

__

_Mad Max’s Property: Same_

__

_Henderson: I swear to g o d_

__

_The Damn Good Babysitter: I’m leaving. I cannot deal with you little shits right now_

__

_Fancy Nancy: He’s leaving to talk to Peter ;)_

__

_Mad Max: ; )_

__

_Mike-and-Ike: Go get your man, Steve ;)_

__

_Mad Max’s Property: Dustin, you better get ready to third wheel :)_

__

_Henderson: Son of a bitch_

Steve rolled his eyes and put his phone back in his pocket. He’d deal with them later. Right now he had a lunch table to get to and a kid to talk to. 

He started off towards the table with a slight skip in his step. Nancy was looking at him with a smirk on her face. He wanted nothing more than to flip her off, but he couldn’t screw with his first impression. So he shoved that feeling down and arrived at the table with a smile. “Hey.” 

“Hey, Steve.” Nancy motioned for him to sit across from her. He did so while letting his eyes flicker to Peter for a moment. Peter had the same idea and their eyes met. It was less awkward than Steve thought it would be. He got a smile, so it was a win to him. 

“Who's your friend?” He asked as if he didn't know. 

“Oh, this is Peter.” She introduced him. “And Peter that's Steve.” 

“Hi, Steve.” Peter had a sweet voice. It just _fit_ him. 

“Hi, Peter.” Steve wished he could listen to that voice for hours. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you. Nancy talks about you a lot.” That was a surprise. He didn't think she'd talk about him at all. 

“I hope it's all good stuff.” 

“She hasn't said one bad thing about you actually.” Yet another surprise. 

“That's a relief.” 

“What? You think I'd trash talk you?” She feigned a hurt expression. 

“Well...you're you.” 

“That’s- you know what. I’m not even going to start that conversation.” Steve snickered, and Peter let out a laugh. The cutest laugh ever known to existence might Steve add. “I’m going to get a drink. You guys want anything?” 

“Nah, I’m good.” Steve knew what she was doing. This was the part where she scattered, leaving them alone to talk. The part that he wasn’t prepared for, but it was fine. He was a good improviser. Totally. 

“I’m good too.” 

“Alright. I shall be back children.” Nancy stood and rushed off.

There was a silence before Steve decided to speak. “So where are you from?” He knew the answer already, but he figured it was a good conversation starter. 

“New York City.” 

“Damn, what are you doing out here?” 

“My aunt wanted some change. She kind of hates New York and all the shit that happens there, so she thought it’d be good to move away for a little while. She wanted to go to a place that many people don’t know much about, and that’s out of trouble.” Steve wanted to laugh at the ‘a place that’s out of trouble’ part. Hawkins was _far_ from out of trouble. Well, it depends on how you lived. If you lived like someone who ignored everything besides what went on in your house then Hawkins was out of trouble, but if you lived like Steve and his gang of children then Hawkins was definitely trouble. 

“Well you’ve come to the right place my friend. It’s a pretty small town and not much happens.” 

“Does _anything_ happen?” Peter seemed like he _wanted_ there to be some trouble. 

“Depends on who you hang out with.” 

“Who should I hang out with then?” 

“If you want action and all that, I’d say Nancy and me and our children friends.” 

“You have children friends?” Peter looked like he was trying not to laugh. Steve wanted to be offended. He really did. But Peter looked so damn cute when he was trying to hold back a laugh. 

“It’s embarrassing to admit, but yes, I do have children friends.” Steve wasn't actually embarrassed to admit it. Despite their occasional shit attitudes, they were pretty good kids. He honestly wouldn't want to not know them. They made life a little more bearable. “Laugh all you want, sir.” 

He was expecting some kind of teasing remark, but instead he got hit with “I'm not laughing!...actually, I think it's kind of cute that you hang out with children.” It caught him off guard, to say the least. It made his heart beat just a little faster and it made his stomach do little flips. 

“Um…” He didn't know what to say. This wasn't a situation he prepared for. Granted he didn't prepare for any situation. But this was something that he couldn't improvise his way out of. 

“I'm sorry. That was...out of line.” Peter's face was tinted pink and his hands were playing with the pencil that sat in front of him. 

“No, no! It's fine. Totally fine. I just... wasn't expecting that.” 

“To be honest I wasn't expecting to say that, but sometimes my mouth works faster than my mind, so…” Peter let out an awkward laugh. His eyes dropped to one of the papers that were laying on the table. 

“I get that. Happens to me a lot.” Steve let out an awkward laugh of his own, eyes doing the same as Peter's and landing on the papers on the table. They were filled with math equations that made Steve's head hurt. Bless Peter's soul for dealing with that type of math. He decided to get rid of the awkward silence that fell between them by motioning towards the papers. “What's all that?” 

“Precalculus.” 

“You actually understand that shit?” 

“Oh yeah. It’s pretty easy for me.” 

“How??” Steve wasn’t _horrible_ at math. He was actually quite good at it, but precalculus was the one part of math that he struggled with. 

“I’m smart, I guess.” Peter shrugged with a smile on his face. “It’s not _that_ hard. I have a few tricks that help me with it. I could teach you some if you want.” 

“Oh my God, _please_ teach me some tricks.” That earned him a snicker. 

“Alright. Come here.” Peter tapped the seat next to him. Steve moved to take the seat while internally panicking because he was _directly_ next to Peter. It left them rather close. Which meant he got whiffs of Peter’s smell. It was an apple pie smell. Like fresh out of the oven apple pie. The super sweet smelling kind. And there was a small bit of coffee there. It was something Steve could’ve imagined he smelled like. Which absolutely isn’t creepy. It’s just one of those ‘oh that smell reminds me of this person’ type of situation. Peter seemed like the type of person who’d really love apples and apple picking and all that. He also seemed like the type of person to drink coffee and live off of it. He was good at precalculus after all. Being _that_ smart probably meant he pulled _many_ all-nighters to study. 

Peter had started to explain some of his tricks, and Steve was listening. Well mostly. His mind kept going back to Peter’s apple pie and coffee smell. It was a really nice smell. A really _distracting_ smell. It wasn’t a strong, in your face smell. It was a light, soft smell. And that only made it more appealing. 

Steve started thinking about unrealistic things after that. Things like them dating and Steve giving Peter his sweatshirts and when he got them back they smelled like Peter. Again..._unrealistic_. But hey, dreaming never hurt anyone, right? 

Then he started thinking about Peter and him apple picking during the fall as one of those cute couples. A dumb thing to think because it would never happen. So yeah, maybe dreaming did hurt after all. 

Steve let out a sigh. Peter looked at him and pointed the pencil at him accusingly. “You aren’t listening, are you?” _Shit. Good job getting caught, Harrington._

“Of course I am!” 

“That’s bullshit right there.” He sounded _amused_. Not what Steve was thinking would happen, but he wasn’t complaining. He’d feel pretty shitty if he made Peter feel like garbage since he wasn’t listening. 

“It’s not! I was totally listening.” 

“Then what did I say?” _Son of a goddamn bitch._

“Okay, so maybe I wasn’t listening.” Steve admitted sheepishly. 

“I knew it!” Peter’s amused smile turned into a teasing grin. “Care to tell me why you weren’t listening? I’m not a boring teacher, am I?” _Shitshitshitshit._

“You aren’t boring at all. I promise. It’s just...it’s something else. Let’s leave it at that.” He prayed to God Peter agreed to leave it alone. 

Apparently God wasn’t on his side. 

“I’m afraid we can’t leave it at that. I’m too curious now.” _God fucking damnit._

“Peterrrrr.” 

“Steeeeve.” 

“Are you seriously going to make me tell you?” 

“Yes. Yes, I am.” Steve swallowed and prepared himself for embarrassment. 

“_Fine_.” He paused, taking in a breath before mumbling “You smell nice and it’s distracting.” 

“I have no idea what you just said.” 

“I said: _you smell nice and it’s distracting_.” 

“...oh.” It was quiet, an awkward silence like before when Peter called Steve cute. Then Peter broke it. “That’s the first time anyone has ever said I smell nice.” 

“I didn’t mean it in a creepy way.” It certainly sounded like it. “It’s just...you’re right there and you smell like apple pie and coffee and I think it fits you and I like it.” He was pretty sure he was making it worse. Peter laughed, though. So either Peter thought he was a joke or Peter didn’t think he was a creep and he just found the way Steve said it funny. 

“I know you didn’t mean it creepily.” It was the second option. That’s good to know. “I’m glad you like it, though.” _Uh-_

“Wait, seriously?” 

“Well, yeah-” The bell rang, ending lunch and cutting Peter off. Steve was kind of mad about it, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. But he figured Peter would finish the sentence after the bell stopped. 

And of course he couldn’t because Nancy came bounding back over. 

“Sorry that took so long. I was talking to the lunch lady.” 

“It’s alright. Steve and I just talked about a bunch of stuff.” Peter began to collect his items. Steve sighed, knowing the conversation would need to be continued later. The only problem was that he didn’t know when _later_ would be. 

“That’s nice.” She grabbed her things as well. “I can walk you to class if you want, Peter.” 

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” He turned to leave, making Steve’s heart sink. But then he turned back around and cleared his throat before saying, “I think you smell nice too.” And just like that he was walking away with Nancy. 

Steve died. Absolutely, one hundred percent died. 

_I think you smell nice too._

He was screwed. So terribly screwed.


	2. The Little Shits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The little shits tease Steve a whole lot about his crush. The only problem is they haven't met Peter yet. And that's something they want to change.

Steve knew it was a trap when he was asked by the little shits to come over and bring snacks to watch a movie. Sure they did that a lot, but he knew _this_ time was different because this was the first time they’ve asked since Peter moved to Hawkins. He knew them well enough to know that they would tease him the _entire_ time about Peter. And they’d ask to know everything about Peter to make sure he fit their standards. 

He knew it was a trap, yet he went anyway. Why? He didn’t know. Not the smartest thing he could have done if he wanted to have a good night, but he rarely made smart choices anyway. 

When he got there, it was how it always was. They were screwing around, and they stopped to greet him and take the snacks. Mostly to take the snacks. There was nothing they love more than food. 

“I hope you got good stuff this time.” Lucas said while grabbing the two bags from Steve’s arms. 

“I get good stuff all the time, thank you very much.” 

“That’s debatable.” Mike piped up. Steve frowned and resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Mike. And no, it was _not_ immature. 

“I could always just not bring _anything_ if you guys hate what I bring so much.” Steve threatened. He knew he’d get them to shut up that way. They wouldn’t ever agree to not get food. 

“That’s unfair. If you stopped bringing food, you’d be punishing all of us when Max and I didn’t say shit about your food.” Dustin argued against Steve’s threat. He did have a point. They didn’t deserve to be snack deprived if only Lucas and Mike were being little shits. 

It always seemed to be that way; Lucas and Mike were the bad kids while Max and Dustin were the good kids. Well, Max wasn’t always good, but for the most part, she was. Better than Lucas and Mike at least. 

“Okay, okay. I won’t stop bringing food, but I might take away Lucas and Mike’s snack rights.” 

“Don’t do that! I like snacks!” Lucas clutched a snack bag to his chest. 

“Then stop complaining about what I bring.” 

“Will do.” Steve doubted he’d stop complaining, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. That was the fun part of associating with them; they listened about _zero_ percent of the time. 

Steve shook his head and moved to sit on the couch. “What movie are we watching, children?” 

“Ghostbusters.” Of course. They all had a weird obsession with that movie and had made Steve watch it one too many times. It was usually what they picked when they couldn’t decide on anything else. 

“Oh goodie. My _favorite_ movie.” Steve rolled his eyes. 

“You have to admit it’s growing on you.” Mike put the movie on and then sat down on the ground next to Dustin. 

“It’s really not. I think it has earned the title of ‘my least favorite movie ever.’” 

“You’re horrible.” 

“Why thank you, Mike. I really appreciate that compliment.” 

“It wasn’t a-” 

“The movie is starting. Shut up.” Max gave them both a look, and they quieted down. She was just a _little_ scary. And if you got her mad that just a _little_ scary turned into a _lot_ scary. 

The movie began, and Steve paid attention to it for about an hour. Then he zoned out and started thinking of random things. Then those random things turned into Peter. It happened a lot more than Steve liked to admit. His crush was a very _large_ one. He didn’t even know if it was classified as a crush anymore. He was 99 percent sure he was in love, but that was too terrifying to say or even think about. 

Love wasn’t something that sat well with him. Mostly because his parents had divorced when he was only ten. They fell out of love right before his eyes. It had started out as small things; no more small touches or smiles at each other. Then they stopped holding hands. Then they stopped kissing. Then they got short with each other. A lot more than just a few times a month. It was almost every day. Then they started arguing a ton. Steve used to hide in his room and curl up under the sheets, trying to ignore them and pretend that it was fine. Then they started to sleep in different rooms. Then they started to avoid each other. They only ever would interact if they absolutely _had_ to. Then his father started to leave early and come home late. His mother didn’t even care. She seemed content with him gone. Then they sat Steve down and threw the word _divorce_ at him. He had accepted it and just nodded at everything they said. Then his mother took him, and they ended up in Hawkins. No word from his father since. 

Steve didn’t want something that turned out like his parents. Especially if Peter was involved. He would want a long, healthy relationship. Or if the love isn't there after some time, he would want honesty. He wouldn’t want to drag it out for the sake of whatever. 

The problem was he didn’t even know if Peter felt the same. 

That was the other reason as to why love wasn’t something that sat well with him. He could be in love all he wanted, but if the person he was in love with didn't feel the same then he was essentially fucked. He would have to force himself to unlove that person and find someone new. He knew that would be hard. Then again feelings were always hard. 

A nudge pulled Steve from his thoughts. He turned his head to find Max staring at him. “What?” 

“The movie ended.” 

“Oh. Nice.” 

“You seem to be in your own little world. You good?” Steve was going nod and say he zoned out, but Mike beat him to speaking. 

“He was probably thinking about _Peter_.” Well _shit_. 

“I can inform you that I was _not_ thinking about Peter.” 

“Then why are you blushing?” Ah yes, here came the part that Steve knew was going to happen. The _lovely_ incessant teasing and abuse from the little shits. 

“I’m not-” 

“You really are.” Lucas winked at him. “It’s okay. We all know you _love_ Peter.” 

“I don’t love-” 

“What’s it like being in love?” Max — _of course_ — joined in. 

“Oh my God. I’m not in lo-” 

“Do you get butterflies in your stomach whenever he smiles?” He totally did, but they didn’t need to know that. 

“No.” 

“Stop lying, _Harrington_.” Mike had such a dumb look on his face. He thought he was _so_ cool. And he absolutely was _not_ cool. 

“I’m not lying, _Wheeler_.” 

“Then why is everything Nancy said the complete opposite of what you’re saying?” 

“She told you stuff??” 

“Oh, yeah. She told me a bunch of stuff.” 

“_Traitor_.” Evil. Nancy was _evil_. 

“So it is true!” _Fuck_. 

“No!”

“She wouldn’t be a traitor if it wasn’t true!” Steve wanted the ground to open up and suck him into a black hole. That would be better than this. 

“You know who the real traitor is?” Dustin spoke up, and Steve knew exactly where that was going. “Steve is. He’s replacing me.” 

“I’m not replacing you. I _swear_.” 

“_Lies_.” Dustin frowned. “But you know what? It’s fine. I’ve started to accept the fact that Peter’s better than I am.” 

“I hate you.”

“Okay, but how do you _know_ Peter is better than you? We’ve never met him. We’re going off of Steve’s word. Which honestly isn’t a good idea because he’s helplessly in love.” Max grabbed a bag of chips from the snack bag and popped it open. She pulled a chip from the bag and tossing it into her mouth. 

“I’m not helplessly in love.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Believe whatever you want, Steve.” Max took another chip and was about to eat it when her whole face lit up. “I have a great idea!” 

“I have a feeling this isn't going to be a great idea.” 

“Shut up, Steve. It _is_ a great idea.” 

“What is this great idea then?” 

“We should meet Peter.” _Oh hell no_. 

“_Absolutely not_.” He didn’t trust them for shit. They’d act like freaks and they’d end up spilling Steve’s feelings to Peter. He knew that for a _fact_. 

“I agree with this idea.” Lucas grinned at Steve. _Asshole_.

“I do too.” Mike grinned too. _Asshole number two_. 

“I said _no_.” 

“Oh come on! We’ll be good!” Max pulled out those _goddamn puppy dog eyes_. 

“You won’t. I know you.” 

“Steve. Please. We _pinky promise_ that we’ll be good.” Now Lucas and Mike had joined in on the puppy dog eyes train. _Those little shits_. 

“...fine.” He was met with a bunch of cheers. Regret was already washing over him. There was no way it would end nicely. 

“I didn’t agree to any of this. I don’t want to meet him. He’s my enemy.” Dustin crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Dustin, you only have to meet him _once_. After that, you can hate him all you want, but to actually hate him, you gotta know him first.” Max reasoned with him. 

“Can you ever be wrong for once?” 

“Afraid not.” Max patted his back. “It’ll only be for a few hours. Don’t worry.” 

“Whatever.” Dustin had a frown etched onto his face. Max ignored the frown and turned her attention back to Steve. 

“Text Peter and tell him to come here.” 

“Like right now?” Steve wasn’t prepared. _Definitely_ not. He needed at least the night to think about this and figure out how the hell he was going to keep his kids in check. 

“Yes, right now.” 

“But-” 

“Just do it.” Steve wanted to say no. He really didn’t want to do this. But he knew Max would beat his ass if he didn’t and quite frankly he didn’t want a 13-year-old girl to beat his ass. That’d be worse than the time he got his ass beat by Jonathan. And worse than the time he got his ass beat by Billy. 

“_Okay_.” He pulled out his phone and shot a text to Peter. 

_Steve: Are you free right now?_

He wasn’t expecting an answer right away, but he got one. It made his heart do stupid things in his chest. 

_Peter<3: Yeah. Why? You alright?_

_Steve: I’m all good. The thing is my children friends want to meet you_

_Peter<3: Lmao are you serious?_

_Steve: Y u p_

_Peter<3: Well okay then. Let me meet these children_

_Steve: Lmao okay. I just gotta warn you that they are little shits_

_Peter<3: They can’t be that bad_

_Steve: You say that now…_

_Peter<3: Oh hush. I’m sure they’re fine. Where are we meeting?_

_Steve: You know Nancy’s house?_

_Peter<3: Yeah_

_Steve: We’re there. One of the little shits is her brother, so we’re at her house_

_Peter<3: Alrighty. I’ll be over soon_

_Steve: Get ready for an interesting experience_

_Peter<3: Will do lmfao_

Steve shut off his phone and set it down on the table next to the couch. “He’s on his way.” 

“This is going to be great.” Mike threw a wink at Steve. It made Steve want to throw himself out of a window. 

“If you don’t behave, I’ll kill you.” Mike let out a laugh. 

“Oh please. You physically wouldn’t be able to.” 

“That’s not true.”

“You’ve literally _never_ won a fight. And I’d put up a fight if you tried to kill me, sooo…” Steve didn’t appreciate being called out for never winning a fight. It wasn’t like it was his fault he didn’t win the fights he had been in. Jonathan and Billy just had more experience in fights than he had. 

“Mike, you weigh nothing. I could totally beat you in a fight.” Mike didn’t have any experience in fights, so that would be an easy win. 

“You totally couldn’t.” 

“I totally could.” 

“Both of you are shit at fighting, so you’d both lose. _Shut up_ about it.” Lucas rolled his eyes at them. 

“I cannot believe I associate with you guys.” Max huffed. 

“You love us.” Lucas turned to grin at her. 

“Do I?” 

“Yes, yes, you do.” 

Steve’s phone buzzed. He knew it was a text from Peter. Which meant Peter was here. _Yay_. 

Max seemed to read his mind. She smirked at him before standing and taking off towards the stairs. _Oh no_. “Max. I swear to _God_.” He got up and rushed after her. 

“Calm down. I’m just going to open the door for him.” She called over her shoulder as she hopped up the stairs. 

“Bullshit you are!” She was Max. She wasn’t going to _just open the door for him_. 

“Just let it happen, Steve.” He would _die_ before he let it happen. 

“_No_.” 

They reached the top at the same time and Steve reached out to grab her. She dodged him and turned the corner that opened into the hallway that lead to the door. He followed right after her. He was quite determined to catch her. He didn’t want her to open her mouth and say things that didn’t need to be said. 

When they reached the door Nancy was already there. She was talking to Peter, but turned when she heard Steve and Max running down the hall. “What are you two doing?” 

“I _was_ going to open the door, but he started abusing me.” 

“That’s not even true.” 

“Yes, it is.” 

“No, you’re just a little shit.” 

“That’s abuse.” 

“Wh-” 

“Yeah, yeah, no one cares.” Nancy cut Steve off. He didn’t blame her. But he was still a little offended. “I _was_ trying to hear what Peter was saying, but you idiots came crashing through. So can someone inform me as to what is going on?” 

“The kids wanted to meet Peter, so they forced me to interrupt his day and invite him here.” 

“Oh boy.” Nancy gave Steve a sympathetic smile. She knew what that meant for him. Then she turned back to Peter. “Good luck.” 

“Thanks?” He seemed confused — which was a cute look on him — and Nancy just laughed. 

“You’ll understand later.” Steve really wished that wasn’t the case, but he knew it would be. 

“I’m offended that you all think we are horrible children.” Max held a hand over her heart and acted all hurt. 

“I never said you were horrible children. It’s just...this situation is when you turn into…” Nancy trailed off. Steve knew what she wanted to say, but she was Nancy and she’d never say it. 

“Little shits.” Steve finished for her. Max stuck her tongue out at him and he flipped her off. 

“Basically.” 

“Nancy!” 

“Sorry, Max, but it’s true. And you can’t exactly argue. I know what you plan on doing.” Steve did too. It didn’t take a genius to know. He only wished he was prepared for it. 

“Fair enough.” 

“I’m going to throw myself off a cliff.” He really was going to. Death seemed much more appealing than _this_. 

“Stop being dramatic.” Max shoved him. He shoved back. 

“I’m not being dramatic.” 

“Okay, well, have fun, you kids.” Nancy patted Steve on the back and shot him one last sympathetic smile. “Don’t kill the children please.” 

“I make no promises.” 

“Peter, make sure he doesn’t kill the children.” 

“I’ll try my best.” Peter laughed. Nancy gave him a thumbs up before turning and walking back up the stairs. 

As soon as Nancy was gone, Max pushed past Steve and stuck her hand out towards Peter. “I’m Max.” Peter took her hand and shook it. 

“Hi, Max. I’m Peter.” Steve held his breath, waiting for something horrible to come out of Max’s mouth. 

“I know. I’ve heard _a lot_ about you.” There it was. 

“Have you?” 

“Yup. Steve talks about you nonstop.” _Well then_. 

“Is that so?” Peter turned to look at Steve with a raised eyebrow. Steve tried to tell himself not to panic, but Max kept going. 

“Oh yeah. It’s _constant_.” She was _so dead_. 

“That’s not true.” Steve stepped in before she said anything else. “I talk about you, yeah, but not _that_ much. It’s a normal amount. Just like how I talk about every other person I’m friends with.” 

“Sure-” 

“_Max_.” 

“What?” She looked at him innocently. It only made him want to kill her even more. 

“_Zip it_.” 

“Yeesh, fine.” She turned to Peter who looked rather amused at their interaction. “Let’s go and meet the rest of them. I think you’ll like them.” 

“I think I’ll like them too.” Peter followed after Max as she started off towards the stairs. Steve followed more slowly, letting out a sigh as he went. 

They entered the basement and Mike was the first one to look over. Then Lucas. And lastly Dustin. Mike and Lucas beamed with mischief while Dustin looked miserable. 

“Alright, so,” Max pointed to Mike. “That’s Mike.” Then she pointed to Lucas. “That’s Lucas.” Then she pointed to Dustin. “And that’s Dustin.” 

“Hey, guys.” Peter gave a small wave. 

“Hola!” Lucas waved more enthusiastically. 

“Hi!” Mike held just as much enthusiasm as Lucas.

“Hello.” Then there was Dustin. His enthusiasm levels were in the negative. Steve wanted to laugh. It was ridiculous. He didn’t know how he was supposed to get Dustin to understand that no one could replace him. He had told Dustin _so many_ times, and the kid just didn’t listen. 

“Would you mind if we asked you a bunch of questions? We just wanna get to know you.” Mike asked with a sweet smile on his face. 

“Ask away.” Peter said while seating himself on the couch. Steve wished he hadn’t said that, but there was nothing he could do. So he just sat down next to Peter and prepared himself for the inevitable. 

“Alright. First and most important question: Who is your favorite Avenger?” Lucas loved the Avengers. Captain America was his all-time favorite. Steve thought Cap was cool, but his favorite was Hawkeye. 

“IronMan all the way.” Steve knew that. Peter had told him that before when they had been talking about Peter’s life in New York. 

“Ooh. Who do you ship with him?” 

“Captain America.” Steve knew that too. Peter talked about how annoying it was to watch them give each other heart eyes all the time. 

“That is the only correct answer here.” Peter laughed and nodded. 

“I agree.” 

“Yeah, yeah, we aren’t starting that conversation. Lucas could go on for years and years about how in love they are.” Max interjected into the conversation. Steve snickered. 

“Peter could too. Trust me.” 

“Right, so, let’s go onto the next question.” Lucas and Peter deflated, but they agreed to move on. 

Mike asked something next. “How smart are you?” 

“I’d say pretty smart.” Steve knew Peter was more than _pretty smart_, but he’d never admit it because he was too humble for his own good. 

“Prove it.” 

“Easy.” Peter pulled his phone from his pocket and showed off a picture of him and Tony Stark with the _Stark Internship_ paper. “Tony Stark made me, his personal intern and we work on superhero suits in his lab. I understand all of his equations and shit that he makes for upgrades in the suits, so there’s that.” Dustin engaged in the conversation upon hearing that. 

“You’re Tony Stark’s personal intern??? And you work on _superhero suits_ with him???” 

“Yup.” 

“_Holy shit_.” Dustin looked _beyond_ impressed. “That’s so _cool_.” 

“Steve, did you know this?” Mike repositioned himself, so he was sitting with his legs crisscrossed. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. 

“Well, yeah. He talks about it a lot.” 

“You _knew_, and you never thought to tell us??” Mike seemed very offended. 

“I didn’t think it mattered.” He knew it mattered to them because they all worshipped Tony Stark, but usually, whenever he thought about Peter, it was because he was thinking about how great and adorable Peter was. He always got too carried away with his not so little crush and completely forgot about the Tony Stark thing. 

“You didn’t think it matter-” 

“Hold the phone. You know Tony Stark, so does that mean you know Spider-Man?” Of course, Max would bring that up. She loved Spider-Man. But thinking about it, that was a good question. Steve knew Peter worked on Spider-Man’s suits with Tony, but he didn’t know if Peter actually knew Spider-Man. 

“I, uh, have met him...a few times.” Peter seemed slightly uncomfortable. The kids didn’t notice, being all excited about the internship and whatnot. But Steve did. He noticed the way Peter's shoulders held the tiniest bit of tenseness to them. He noticed the way Peter's hands started to play with the hem of his shirt upon hearing the question. It made him curious. What was the deal with Spider-Man? 

“_Lucky!_” Max shouted. She always said that she would die if she had the opportunity to meet Spider-Man. However, Peter didn’t seem too thrilled about having met Spider-Man. 

“Hah...yeah.” Peter said as his eyes wandered over to meet Steve’s questioning gaze. He gave an “I’ll tell you later” look to answer Steve’s look. 

After that, things veered from the topic of superheroes and Spider-Man; the kids had started to notice the discomfort because it became more noticeable. They started to ask questions about his friends back home and what his favorite school subjects were. Simple things. Just easy “getting to know” someone questions. 

As time passed, the questions got more _personal_. Steve began to worry that they’d get to the _crush_ question. Yes, he wanted to know who it was to see if he had a chance, but he also didn’t want to know because he didn’t want to go through a rejection. He always hated getting rejected; just like everyone on the face of the earth. 

Peter was asked if he had taken anyone to any school dances back in New York. That’s when Steve knew the kids were starting to go towards the _crush_ question. The internal panic was bumped up a few notches. 

Then Peter was asked about his past relationships. Up went the panic. 

Then Peter was asked about past crushes. More and more panic. And it wasn’t just Steve. He knew Peter was getting a little panicked. The mild panic was very easily seen in his eyes. 

Then Peter was asked about his _current_ crush. The panic completely _skyrocketed_ at that point. 

“Uh…can we skip this question?” The mild panic that was in Peter’s eyes was definitely not mild anymore. 

“Oh come on. We won’t tell anyone.” Mike put on the puppy dog eyes that had gotten Steve into this situation in the first place. 

“I know...it’s just...something else.” Peter chewed on his lower lip. His eyes went back and forth between the kids. 

“If you’re afraid of judgement, don’t be. We won’t judge. Not at all.” Max turned on her puppy dog eyes too. Peter didn’t seem affected by it. 

“It’s not that either…” 

“I know what it is.” Lucas announced. “It’s someone we know, and he’s scared that we know his crush’s crush. And he’s scared that it isn’t him.” Peter let out a nervous laugh before trying to speak. Max beat him to it, though. Which was rather unfortunate because what she said next really made Steve want to curl into a ball and die. 

“Or maybe his crush is sitting in this very room and that’s why he won’t say anything.” 

The room went quiet. 

Peter’s face turned bright red and his mouth dropped open. Steve knew he looked similar. How could he not after Max said something like _that_? It was _very_ clear as to _who_ she was referring to. 

The thing that got to Steve was the fact that Peter wasn’t denying it. He was sitting there with a face the color of a tomato. So the question was: is what Max said true? Did he _like_ Steve?

Before anyone could break the heavy silence, a phone rang. Peter’s phone. He unfroze and answered the phone, though his face was still red. 

It was a quick phone call. It must have been a good one because he looked relieved. When Peter spoke, Steve realized why. “So, uh, I gotta go. My aunt needs me at home.” _Damnit_. 

“Wait-” Max started, but Peter was standing up and heading towards the stairs. 

“It was fun meeting you all. We should do this again soon.” He gave them a wave with a goodbye and then essentially _bolted_ up the stairs. 

“Well, that could’ve gone better.” Dustin commented, earning him a shove from Mike. 

Steve put his face in his hands. “I cannot believe you said that, Max.” 

“Someone had to.” She wasn’t even ashamed. He wanted to kill her. How was she _not_ even ashamed? What the _fuck_? 

“No, actually. No one _had_ to.” He looked up at her with a glare. 

“Yes, actually. He’s literally so adorable, and I get why you like him. I ship it so much, but you two are idiots and won’t get together on your own, so someone has to step in.” 

“She has a point. You’re both _idiots_.” Lucas said, and Dustin and Mike nodded along with his words. 

“Fuck all of you.” Steve was ready to say some more _colorful_ things to them, but his phone buzzed. He let out a breath and grabbed his phone, annoyance shooting through his body. 

That annoyance left his body as soon as his eyes scanned over the message. 

_Holy. Fuck._

_Peter<3: She wasn’t wrong, you know._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)))))))) Isn't this great? Yeah, I know it is. 
> 
> Okay, but like, I love this. Parkington is the fucking best and I literally cannot get enough of them omfg. I have so many ideas. You guys have NO idea. You're in for such a good treat fdjfdsfdajk. 
> 
> I hope you liked it! Leave a like or comment!<33 
> 
> Also, if you have anything you wanna see in future chapters, just pop it in the comments and I'll see what I can do:)


	3. Let Me Take You Stargazing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve takes Peter to a surprise place and tells him something important.

“Are you doing anything tonight?” Steve asked as he leaned against the locker next to Peter’s like he did almost every other day. 

“Nope. Why?” Peter pulled his backpack from his locker and slung it over his shoulder. 

“I want to take you somewhere tonight.” Peter shut his locker and turned to Steve with a raised eyebrow. It wasn’t like he was shocked. Steve asked him to hang out a lot. But Steve sounded nervous and Steve was Steve; he was never nervous about anything. 

“Okay...Where?” 

“It’s a surprise.” Peter sighed, but smiled. He couldn’t not smile. Whenever Steve did things like this, Peter’s heart did little flips in his chest. It wasn’t just that, though. Whenever Steve did _anything_, Peter’s heart did little flips in his chest. It wasn’t his fault. Steve was just really goddamn cute. 

“Oh boy. What am I getting myself into?” Steve laughed. There was the tiniest bit of nervousness in it, but Peter said nothing about it. He figured it was better to let it go. 

“Shut up. You’ll like it.” Peter knew he would like it. He liked anything Steve did for him. Surprise or no surprise. But he liked to tease and he was sure that teasing would bring Steve out of his little nervous bubble. 

“How are you so sure?” 

“Because I’m all-knowing.” Steve joked and the nervousness seemed to disappear. 

“All-knowing my ass.” 

“Oh my God. Just shut up and be ready by seven.” And then the nervousness was back. Steve looked at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Peter. Peter didn't want to let it go now seeing as it was clearly something that was _really_ bothering Steve, but he knew Steve well enough to know that he didn’t like being asked if he was okay or if anything was wrong. 

Peter could always ask Nancy. She was close with Steve and they had been friends for a lot longer than Steve and Peter had. She probably knew what the problem was. _Hopefully_, she knew. 

Peter tried to push his worries about Steve to the back of his mind as he and Steve headed towards the school doors. He’d text Nancy later and he’d figure it all out. Everything was fine. 

“Yeesh, okay. I’ll be ready by seven.” 

“Good.” There was a small, almost _shy_ smile on Steve’s lips. It was _cute_. Peter wanted to look at it forever, but unfortunately, they arrived at the doors and that meant they had to part ways and head home. 

“Well, I’ll see you later, Steve.” Peter gave Steve a little nudge in which he returned. 

“Yeah. See you later, Pete.”

They headed in different directions and as soon as Peter was far enough away from Steve, he pulled out his phone to text Nancy. 

_Peter: Is something wrong with Steve? He was all nervous and stuff when we were talking_

He didn’t have to wait much. She answered not even a minute later. 

_Nancy: He’s okay, just r e a l l y nervous about something he’s doing tonight _

_Peter: What’s he doing tonight? _

_Nancy: He talked to you right? About hanging out? _

_Peter: Yeah. What about that? _

_Nancy: Sometimes I wonder how you’re Tony Stark’s intern with how dumb you can be _

_Peter: Wow. Rude _

_Peter: Okay, but seriously, what am I missing? _

_Nancy: Oh my God_

Peter was about to question it again because yes, he was stupid and dense at times and he didn’t get it, but then it clicked. 

Steve was nervous about something he was doing tonight and it just so happened that Peter and Steve were doing something tonight. 

_Peter: He’s nervous about hanging out with me tonight_

_Nancy: Aaaand he finally understands _

_Peter: But why??? We hang out all the time??? _

_Nancy: Aaaand he’s still dumb as shit _

_Peter: Nancy, you aren’t helping _

_Nancy: I’m aware _

_Peter: Nancyyyyyy_

_Nancy: I can’t help you with this one _

_Nancy: Sorry kid _

_Peter: :( _

_Nancy: You’ll find out soon, though_

_Nancy: Just be patient_

_Peter: I’m not a patient person_

_Nancy: Unfortunate_

_Peter: :(((_

_Nancy: Shut up and go get ready for your date _

_Peter: It’s not a date_

_Nancy: Whatever you say_

Peter sighed and put his phone away. He would just have to wait until tonight to figure this all out.

It was going to be a long wait. That was for sure. 

Once Peter got home, he went into the kitchen to eat something. May was there when he walked in. She was on the phone which didn’t surprise Peter. She was on the phone a lot. She had a lot of friends back in New York. 

She spotted him and smiled. “Hey, Peter.” 

“Hey, May.” He smiled back before going off to the cabinet that held all the snacks. He grabbed a bag of chips and then hopped up to sit on the counter. 

“Tony’s on the phone. You want to talk to him?” 

“Yeah. I hope he’s not mad at me...Is he mad?” Peter had been meaning to call Tony, but he had been busy with school recently and he was with Steve and the kids a lot. 

“He’s not mad about that. He _is_ mad that you haven’t told him about your boyfriend yet.” May grinned at him and he groaned. 

“I _don’t_ have a boyfriend. He’s just my _friend_.” Just as he said that May put Tony on speaker. He heard a scoff over the phone. 

“Kid, he isn’t _just your friend_.” 

“How would you even know? You don’t live here.” 

“May’s told me enough about it.” 

“Both of you _suck_.” 

“You love me, Underoos.” 

“I don’t think I do, Mr. Stark.” 

“Well, I know for a fact you love Steve, so at least you love someone.” May let out a laugh and Peter glared at her and at the phone. He hated them very much. 

“I don’t _love_ him. Again he’s just my _friend_.” 

“Whatever you say, kiddo.” Tony laughed and Peter just sighed. There wasn’t much he could say that would make Tony stop teasing. 

Then Peter had a thought. What if he asked May and Tony about what they thought of his situation? They’d probably be more help than Nancy was. 

“Can I ask you guys something?” They both agreed and Peter started explaining the situation. “So...Today he came up to me and asked me if I was busy tonight, but he was all nervous while doing it and then as we talked more, he just got even more nervous and he was all weird and stuff. Nancy said he was nervous to hang out, but I don’t know why. We hang out almost every single day, so why would he be nervous?”

“Maybe he has to tell you something,” May suggested. And it made sense. 

“Yeah. It might be something important and he’s just nervous because he doesn’t know how you’ll take it.” Tony added on and yeah, that made a lot of sense. Peter would be nervous if he had something important to say and he didn’t know how someone would react to hearing it. 

“Yeah. Okay. That makes sense.” 

“Don’t try and think of what it is, though. Just wait and let him tell you. Alright?” 

“I know.” 

“What are you guys doing tonight?” May asked while leaning back against the counter. 

“I don’t know. He said it was a surprise.” May’s face changed at that. She looked as if she knew exactly what Steve was going to say. It made Peter a little uncomfortable. And to add to it, Tony let out a snort over the phone. It was the snort that he did whenever he knew something that Peter didn’t. “What? Why are you two acting like that?” 

“I didn’t do anything!” Tony protested. 

“You did _that_ snort. And May’s looking at me all weird.” 

“I’m not. I just…” She stopped to let out a laugh. “Nothing. Just nothing. You go upstairs and do whatever it is you do to get ready for dates.”

If one more person called it a date, Peter was going to scream. 

“It’s not a date!” Tony snorted again. “Okay, you know what. I’m going upstairs. I cannot handle either of you. Goodbye.” 

He didn’t wait for an answer before running upstairs. 

He went to his room and plopped onto the bed to try and take a nap. He knew a nap would help him feel a little better. Naps were magical, thank you very much. 

He did end up falling asleep and when he woke back up, it was around six-thirty. 

Peter jumped out of bed and went straight to his closet to pick out an outfit. He wasn’t going to _dress up_, but he wanted to look better than he did when he went to school. He didn't exactly _try_ when it came to dressing for school. He usually just threw on whatever shirt he could find to go along with his jeans. For this..._Outing_ he picked out some blue jeans and a dark gray button-up. He didn’t do anything with his hair except for running his hand through it to get the bed head gone. 

He went downstairs and found May sitting on the couch watching TV. She looked up as he entered the room and smiled. “Awe, you look so good!” 

“Thanks, May.” 

“Can I take a picture? I can caption it ‘first date’ and then put a little heart.” Peter rolled his eyes with a sigh. 

“Oh my God. _No_.” 

“You’re no fun.” He was going to say something back, but a knock at the door interrupted him. “Ooh. Steve’s here.” She winked at him which earned her a glare. 

He went to open the door and immediately smiled when he saw Steve. “Hey.” 

“Hey yourself.” Steve seemed even _more_ nervous than he had been before. He was tugging at the end of his shirt and his eye contact was quite bad. “You ready to go?” He sounded so fucking nervous too. Peter wished he wouldn’t worry so much. There was nothing Steve could tell him that would make him upset in any way. 

“Yeah. Let’s go.” He said goodbye to May before walking out the door and shutting it behind him. “So...You going to tell me where we’re going now?” He asked as they made their way to the car. 

“Not a chance. It’s a surprise until the very end.” 

“Goddamnit.” Steve laughed as he opened his car door. 

“Just get in the car and stop asking questions.” 

“Alright, alright.” 

The drive to the secret place was quiet. They didn’t talk much unless it was to request a song to play. Most songs were soft and they gave Peter some peace against his thoughts. 

He wasn’t having bad thoughts about this. God no. He was just a little nervous. And it wasn’t really his doing. Whenever Steve was nervous it just rubbed off on Peter and made him nervous. And let's just say the amount of nervousness coming off Steve was enough to make Peter question if what Steve needed to say was really _that_ bad?

Thankfully, Steve stopped the car a few minutes later and said, “We have to walk from here, but we'll be there soon.” 

Good. Just a few more minutes between Peter and this thing that Steve needed to tell him. 

They got out of the car and Peter noticed that they were in a field with a hill. He turned to Steve with a questioning look. “What are we doing here?” 

“I'll show you. Come on.” Steve started walking up the hill and Peter followed. 

It took them only a few minutes to reach the top and when Peter shot Steve that same questioning look, Steve just gave him a smile before pointing to the sky. Peter looked up to see what Steve was pointing at and that's when he noticed all the stars. 

Yes, Peter had seen stars before, but with him living in New York City for most of his life, he rarely saw them _this_ clear. And while he had been here for a little while, he never really paid attention to the stars. Plus it wasn't like he went out much at night. He was told _not_ to do that if he was alone. Which he still didn't know _why_, but whenever he asked, no one gave him an answer. That wasn't the point, though. The point was the stars were really pretty and Peter was amazed. 

“They're so _bright_. And so _pretty_.” 

“I thought you'd like them.” Peter's heart exploded right there and then. Steve had been thinking of _him_ and what _he likes_. 

He looked away from the stars to look at Steve. Steve was giving him a soft smile. It was so full of something like _adoration_ and it gave Peter a sliver of hope. Like maybe he _did_ have a chance after all. 

He tried not to get hung up on that, though. He could think about it later. As of now, he was going to enjoy this quiet moment with Steve. 

They ended up lying down on the ground and gazing up at the sky for a long time. It was peaceful; Steve had finally seemed to drop his nervousness. Peter was curious about that, though. He couldn't have been nervous about this. They did stuff like this all the time. So there had to be more to it. The only thing was Peter didn't know how to bring it up without making Steve freak out. 

After a few moments of thinking of what to say, Peter finally settled on something. But Steve beat him to speaking. 

“Peter?” 

“Yeah?” 

A couple beats of silence. 

Then, “I'm in love with you.” 

And _wow_. Peter was _not_ expecting that. What the _fuck_. 

“You’re...You’re _what_?” 

“I'm in love with you.” 

For some reason, the only thing Peter could manage to say was, “Oh.” 

It wasn't really his fault. What the fuck was he _supposed_ to say to _that_? He had thought of, like, a thousand different things that Steve would say to him and absolutely _none_ of them were this. And honestly, it was _unrealistic_. In what world did one’s crush actually like them back? Literally no world. It was something that just _didn't_ happen. 

Yet here they were. 

Steve had just spit that sentence out while they were _stargazing_. 

What the _fuck_. 

Peter couldn't look at Steve. It was too terrifying. So he kept his eyes on the stars and tried to get his mouth to formulate some type of sentence that would make sense. But his brain just wasn't with it. The only thing he could manage to think was _he's in love with you. Like. In love._

With that being the only thing on his mind, he said, “You're in love with me.” 

“I did just say that, didn't I?” 

Peter didn't answer. He _couldn't_. He was stuck in some little world. He was too shocked to function. Too happy to function too. This was how he felt when Tony Stark walked into his room and was all like _wanna come to Germany and fight Captain America with me?_

“Peter?” Steve asked softly, almost scared. And that's when Peter realized he really should say something back that was more than _oh_ and _you're in love with me._

There was a lot he wanted to say. A lot he _needed_ to say. He had no idea where the fuck to start. So he settled on, “Um…” like the intellectual he was. 

He would definitely be having a talk with himself later on how to function like a _normal_ human being. 

Steve took his inability to speak as a bad thing. “You don't have to return my feelings...I just...I needed to tell you. And if this makes things awkward then I'm sorry. Feel free to say you don't want to be friends. I totally understand.” 

That got Peter to start genuinely functioning. 

“Nonono, oh my God. No. Don't think that. Steve, I've been pining over you for like fucking ages and God bless. It's nice to know you feel the same. I just like. Don't know how to act. Cause like. Totally wasn't expecting this. Like. At all. And now I'm just like. In shock. And overly happy. And the last time I felt like this I got dragged off to Germany by Iron Man to fight Captain America and. Just. Yeah. I don't fucking know.” He was rambling like an idiot. He knew that. But he couldn't get himself to just _shut up_. “I’m in like with you too. Wait. Fuck. I meant _love_. I'm in _love_ with you too. See? I'm a mess. I can't function. I'm a gay disaster. Bi-disaster. Bisaster. That's not a word. Jesus.”

He stopped his stupid ramble and finally decided to stop looking at the stars and actually look at Steve. 

And Steve. Well, he was laughing. Like really hard. So hard that no noise was coming out and he was just _shaking_ and _crying_. 

“Why are you laughing? This isn't funny. I'm genuinely losing my mind over here.” And for some reason, Steve just laughed _harder_. Or more like he _shook_ harder and shed even _more_ tears. 

It took him a little while to compose himself and when he did, of course, the first fucking thing he said was, “Can you explain to me what being _in like with someone_ means?”

“Shut _up_! I panicked!” Steve laughed a little more before just grinning like an idiot. 

“It's alright. It was cute.” 

“_Shut up_.” Peter covered his face with his hands to hide his blush even though it wasn't like Steve would see it anyway. It was too dark to see. 

“Make me.” Peter uncovered his face and shot Steve a glare. 

“You're cliche. Stop.” 

“I can't. It's part of who I am. If you don't like it then maybe you aren't actually in like with me.” 

“Oh my God. Fuck _off_.” Steve laughed _again_ which earned him another glare. 

Then he stopped laughing and got this look on his face that was so _soft_ and there was a _hint_ of shyness. “Okay, but in all seriousness...Can I kiss you?” 

Peter couldn't speak. Well, it was more like he didn't trust his voice. So he just gave a small nod and shuffled a little closer. Then he let Steve move the rest of the way until their foreheads were touching. 

They stayed like that for a moment. Just _looking_ at each other. And then Steve inched closer. 

Their noses brushed. 

Then their lips brushed. 

And maybe the whole thing was _cliche_ — confessing their love and sharing a kiss under the stars — but it was _perfect_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy fuck. i'm ALIVE. i'm like really sorry for disappearing for like literal fucking YEARS. but like. i kinda died. and ya know, high school sucks, so i've been busy with that. and i've been busy like pissing myself about it chapter 2 and reddie. which hey, not to like, self promote here, but y'all should go check out my it fics if you've seen the movie :)))) 
> 
> BUT. i have no forgotten about this and parkington. i could NEVER. and i'll probably be back to updating this every so often. i can't promise a regular update because i have so many other fics that i need to work on and shit, so like fucking rip. i'm a mess. but i hope you still love mefjdkafjdsa. 
> 
> and like hey, i just think Peter and Steve are so in love. like just. wow. that's kinda gay. 
> 
> anywayyydshfksdj, leave a like or comment if you would! they help me a lot! <33


	4. Let Me Take You Stargazing (Bonus Scene)

Steve was having a great night; he told Peter how he felt and Peter felt the same. They were officially a couple now. They kissed and then cuddled for a little while under the stars. 

It was just _amazing_. 

Then, as they were heading back to the car, his brain went to think about Peter's rambled confession because it made him smile like an idiot. And that was when he realized something.

In that confession, Peter had said something that was weird. Something that didn't really make sense. 

That sometimes was: 

_And the last time I felt like this I got dragged off to Germany by Iron Man to fight Captain America._

Which, okay. Steve knew Peter worked for Tony Stark. He knew Peter knew the Avengers. Peter talked about it whenever he had the chance. But that sentence didn't seem like it was just an _internship_ that made him know the Avengers. That sentence made it seem like Peter was–

Holy fucking _shit_. 

“Peter.” 

Peter stopped walking and turned to look at Steve. “Yeah?” 

“Why'd Iron Man drag you off to Germany to fight Captain America?” 

Peter froze and pure _panic_ filled his eyes. 

“I– I don't know what you're talking about. That didn't happen. Where'd you get that from?” He said with a nervous laugh, eyes looking anywhere _but_ Steve's face. 

“You said it when you were telling me how _in like_ you are with me.” 

“Oh. Uh. It doesn't mean what you think. I, I uh, I just. It was a joke. Yeah. A joke. It's an inside joke I have with Tony. I forgot you didn't know about it.” He tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. 

He was totally lying. 

“A joke.” 

“Yup. A joke. Just ask Tony.” 

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh.” 

“What? You don't believe me?” Peter looked _offended_, which just made Steve want to laugh. 

“No, I don't.” Peter opened his mouth to speak, but Steve continued. “But if it's something that you don't want to talk about then that's fine. I just. I wanted to ask because it didn't seem like a normal thing for someone to say. Unless you're, like, a superhero or something.” 

Peter did that nervous laugh again and shifted from foot to foot. He didn't say anything, though. 

Steve's eyes widened a little. _Holy fucking shit_. Peter really _was_ a goddamn superhero. 

Now the question was, _who?_

There were really only two options; Ant-Man or Spider-Man. Those were the only two whose identities weren't known. 

Actually, no. There was only _one_ option. 

Peter was _Tony Stark's_ intern. He would've been on Tony's side. And Ant-Man was on Cap’s side. 

So.

Spider-Man. 

Peter was Spider-Man. 

Holy. _Fuck_. 

Steve was dating fucking _Spider-Man_. 

“You're Spider-Man.” 

Peter stared at him; he seemed to be thinking about denying it. But then his shoulders sagged, and he let out a breath. 

“Yeah. I'm Spider-Man.” 

He looked uncomfortable. Steve hated that look on him. So he tried to get that look off by saying something idiotic. 

“I can't believe I'm dating someone who makes horrible puns and bad jokes while shooting webs at people.” 

Peter laughed and Steve smiled. Mission accomplished. 

“Why is _that_ what you focus on?” He managed to get out between his laughter. 

“Because it's the most important thing. I used to think _I_ was bad with the puns, but _you_ take the fucking cake. And it's literally in the worst situations. People are _shooting_ at you when you make your puns. I think that just explains itself.” 

Peter shook his head, laughing a little bit more before saying, “It's not my fault I can't handle tense situations and feel the need to break the tension with stupid puns.” 

Steve was going to make another joke, but then– 

“Wait. Holy shit. Do you sit on the ceiling when you're home alone?” 

Peter snorted. “Sometimes. I also make web hammocks sometimes.” 

“Oh my God. Make me one.” 

“Maybe.” 

“You can't _maybe_ me. You _need_ to make me one. You can't hold this from me. I won't allow it.” 

“Uh, who's the superhero here? I can do what I want.” 

“You can't abuse your power like this! It's illegal!” 

“Says who?” 

“Me! And I'm your boyfriend, so you _have_ to listen to me.” Steve stuck his tongue out because he felt like it would really get his point across. (He's a literal child. Don't mind him). 

Peter shook his head while a smile danced across his lips. “You're an idiot.” 

“Maybe so. But you're the one who's _in like with me_. So _ha_.” 

“Are you ever going to let that go?” 

“Absolutely not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, i think i'm funny. i'm really not tho. oops 
> 
> anyway. this is kinda stupid, but i thought it would be a good idea, so here we are. 
> 
> there will be more chapters where steve finds out peter's identity and it's like better. but it's like 230 in the morning and im fucking cracked out of my mind because i haven't slept in years, so pls take this and like it. 
> 
> i have a few other ideas for our lovely boys that i might write very soon. we shall see. 
> 
> but yeahhhh. i hope you liked whatever the fuck this was:) 
> 
> leave a like or comment if you would because those make my entire life complete! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I fucking love them and I have so many goddamn ideas for them fskdjfsjfdklajfds. Just fucking wait. You'll start to ship them as hard as I do when I write all my ideas. I'll make a whole entire army of stevepeter shippers. It'll be absolutely a m a z i n g. J u s t w a i t :)))))))
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked it! I'm actually really proud of this one. And I'm super excited to get out more soon!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Likes and comments are appreciated<333


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